Packing for a weekend swim meet can be a daunting task. Don't wait until morning, you will be up early enough for warmups without having to worry about packing a cooler full of wholesome snacks and drinks. Let's get this done the night before.

Drinks. There are some very obvious do's and don'ts here but for clarity we will cover it all. Water and sports drinks. Yes. However, there is a catch here. For every one bottle of sports drink your athlete consumes they should drink two equal parts waters. If you are packing the night before...you are right? You can pour one part sports drink and two parts waters into sport bottles for your swimmer. Always pack more liquid than you think you need. If your swimmer doesn't drink at least one full bottle of fluids during a session they are dehydrated. No soda, no energy drinks, no coffee, NO! Chocolate milk is another good fluid to add, not for hydration, but for quick recovery after races.

Snacks. Let's start with the 'no' this time. As a coach I know kids can get candy from the snack bar. That does not mean you should. Just because you can buy something at an athletic event does not make it a good food choice. NO CANDY. Let's just add fast food here for good measure. No french fries, burgers, etc. Heavy food during a meet is a sure-fire way to have lackluster results.

Good choices: Carbohydrates. Fruit, pretzels, dry cereals, whole grain crackers, dried fruit too! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were one of my college coach's favorite bring along snack. A little protein like hard boiled eggs or rolled up slices of deli meat or cheese. Those portable yogurt squeeze pouches are easy too. As a coach I have even seen kids go to meets with quart-sized bags of cooked noodles!

What about sport foods like sport candies, sport gels, or sports bars? Should we as parents and coaches encourage our children to eat candy? Sports candies are deceptive. They do provide electrolytes among other things, but unless our children are hydrated it is wasted. Hydrate first. Sport candies work against the idea of good snack choices. It's a candy, but its healthy, its confusing, it sends mixed messages. Sport gels can be appropriate as well as bars. In limitations. They shouldn't be substituted for real, fresh food. They can compliment them though.